Today’s guest for episode #4 of “Successful Women in Real Estate Investing” is Ali Boone from Southern California. When you talk about successful women in real estate investing; someone that has truly built a lifestyle business, Ali is one of the first women that comes to mind.

She left a very profitable but demanding career as an aeronautical engineer, in order to create the lifestyle business she longed for.

How did she do this? By choosing turnkey rentals as her investing strategy. She wanted to build a business that allowed her to live life on her terms. Not only does she invest outside of the state of California, she has rental property in Nicaragua. Ali has built a business that allows her to be a truly “hands off” real estate investor while she grows her wealth through long term investing.

The 4 Questions

What made you choose the niche you invest in today?

I really don’t think I chose my niche, I think it chose me. In the beginning, I had no idea what I should do- whether I should start a business or get into real estate, and if real estate, what aspect of it. I just kept studying and researching and networking and eventually the opportunities began to find me. I’d much rather flip property so I could make bigger chunks of income faster, but it’s just not in my blood. Rental properties are. I could try flipping, but it goes against my grain, so why fight it?

Did you try other investing strategies before settling on the main strategy you focus on today?

I didn’t actually try other investing strategies but I certainly studied other ones and had every intention of trying them out. I knew that my goal for investing was the same for potentially starting a business- to just get out from under the corporate 9-5 umbrella. I actually tried different business avenues before jumping into real estate, so I would call that more of my “trying other things”. But once real estate found me, that was it. I was in.

What is the best advice you could give someone “brand spanking new”; someone just getting started?

Spend most of your initial hours just digging into every resource you can find. Whether it be books (highly recommended), seminars, online websites, other people, whatever… just dive in. Start learning everything you can and really pay attention to what is out there. You need to know your options. Once you do that, you will eventually have to pick a focus and start pursuing that, otherwise you could end up going round and round and never actually doing anything.

But even after you pick your focus, be open to other focuses finding you. That’s what happened to me. After that, you just have to dive in and go for it. Be smart about it, but don’t expect to be perfect your first go at it, if you ever become perfect. The best way to learn is by your mistakes. Just be smart enough, hopefully, to avoid the really costly mistakes. Always ask questions, look for mentors in your field, use your brain, and most importantly have fun.

If you had to start over today, what would you do differently?

Absolutely nothing. My journey has been just that- a journey. It’s the only way to get to where you want to go. You can’t do it overnight; you have to learn everything bit by bit, you have to make mistakes, and you have to earn the knowledge. Work for it. Not to be cliché, but if it were that easy, everyone really would do it! The best thing I did during my journey was to not go against my grain. I developed very organically into my niche and that is truly the best way to do it. It keeps things more enjoyable, you will always be better at what you are already good at, and it’s the fastest way to reach your top potential.

Oh wait, there is one thing I would change. I would have been way more up on what constitutes a bad property manager, and I would have been a lot more diligent about firing bad ones. Learning that sooner could have saved me tens of thousands of dollars and a serious amount of sanity. But again, it’s part of the learning experience. There’s really no way I could have known what I know now any sooner. Oh well.

About Ali Boone

Ali Boone left her corporate job as an aeronautical engineer to work full-time in real estate investing. She began as an investor only three years ago but in her first year managed to buy 5 properties using only creative financing methods. Her focuses have been on turnkey rental properties and overseas investing in Nicaragua.You can reach out to Ali at Hipster Investments

If you are not already subscribed to the “Inner Circle”, be sure to do that today so you don’t miss any of the business building tips I have coming your way. I want this year to be your best year ever! And if you enjoyed this article, please share it.

I can see that; we all have different methods to our madness don’t we. Ali has truly created the lifestyle business of her dreams. I’m actually a little jealous of her, so I’m working hard on my own “lifestyle business”. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it.